Already Gone
by Chiere
Summary: We were never meant for do or die. SasuSaku. AU.


Everyone knows about the story that is pegged as a cautionary tale—a story about what _existed_, about what was, and what should never be again.

The non-fiction text does its part in instilling the government's ideas that _their_ system is the best. This story is supposed to relax the minds of young children, teens, and adults; it is supposed to give them faith that the meaning of perfection is their _new_ and _improved_ world. And to most of the population, they believe that _this_ is _Utopia_ (no one is left alone, everything is peaceful, no war, no mourning, no _anything_).

To some, it might be unnerving, the thought of knowing that the temptation is out there until their eighteenth year—it can lead them to isolation as a mean of protection, or even insanity—feelings are magnified and there is always a latent curiosity about what _it_ feels like, and despite the ending of the story, they wonder, is it always that bad? Maybe it could be different? (Questions like this are never voiced allowed. They are kept in the recesses of their mind and are forced to be forgotten.)

The most bold of the lot admit to themselves that the world that once was captivates them—the land of the free, home of the brave, full of pride, full of those that had ambition and where they could be anything they wanted to be, their fate was up to them—and they seek out, before their eighteenth year, a thrill that many wouldn't dare to. Half of those people decide that the feeling they felt was like no other, that it was too vast to give up and that everything will be _okay_. They rebel and aim to reform the world—they are deemed delirious (infectious scum that are trying to bring chaos into society).

They fight and claw and kill to keep their freedom, but for most, it never ends well, some are lucky to be able to run away with scars and bullet holes in their bodies, bleeding half to death. They make it into the woods sometimes and are presumed dead. They never go searching for them and no one feels sorry—they only forget and live on.

It's even more proof for the government that _it_ is a disease, _it_ is unhealthy, and _it_ is the death of society.

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.

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_Love _is malignant, love is a disease, love is selfish, love is the deterioration of society. Love consumes, love blinds, love kills. It is documented in the true tale of _Romeo & Juliet _(there are others, but they feel this is enough to show what love is like). Love comes when you least expect it (some even say it can happen when you look at someone for the first time) and then it devours your life and your mind until it drives you mad.

The government just wants to protect you.

The government removes love to keep you safe.

There have been no wars for a century. Everyone is at peace. Don't you understand? This is the way of the _new_ world—this is Utopia.

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"Momma?"

The roaring of the water from the faucet drowns out the young child's voice. She bites her lip, waiting for a moment to make sure the older lady hadn't heard her, and then speaks again.

"Momma?" she calls louder, and the blonde woman at the sink, furiously scrubbing at a plate, stops and looks back at her.

"Why did Romeo kill himself?" she asked.

The older woman narrowed her green eyes, her mouth forming a frown. "Because he _loved_ Juliet and believed her to be dead." The word 'loved' was said with an undertone of malice that the younger child didn't notice and didn't yet understand.

The child's red eyes darted from the book on the table, scanning over a few lines, and then she turned back to her mother. "He killed himself? Because he loved her?" Those words felt foreign on her lips. She felt like she was committing a great sin by saying them and even her mother tensed at the mention. "Because he couldn't live without her…"

"The disease makes people think foolish things and perform foolish actions, that's why it is so dangerous, you see?"

She nodded her head. "I understand that it's tragic…," she admitted, averting her eyes. They were now pinned on the lines in the book. Rereading Romeo's death and how Juliet immediately killed herself, as well, once she found that he was dead. She couldn't help thinking; wouldn't this have all been avoided if they hadn't kept them apart? If they hadn't stopped them from loving? (Was it really _love_ that killed them? Or was being _without_ it what did them in?)

"Love kills, but Romeo and Juliet did so much for something that ended so tragically. Didn't they know? And if they did…," she paused, swallowing hard.

"In a way, mother…don't you think…it's heartbreaking? That it's beautiful?"

She had never seen her mother move so fast. In a second, she was across the kitchen and the back of her hand was striking her across her cheek. The chair tipped over and she landed shoulder-first onto the cold hard tile, her red hair splaying everywhere and a sharp sting across her cheek. Her glasses flew off her face; sliding across the floor to place she couldn't see.

"You believe the disease is beautiful? You believe that death is beautiful?"

She did not respond. All she did was shake and force herself not to cry.

"Don't _ever_ let me hear you say that again."

Not once did she look up or give any confirmation that she had heard her. She only knew her mother had left when the water stopped running. That is when she let the tears come streaming down her face.

_This is Utopia_.

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Her cousin walks in and finds her crying.

"Karin?"

She feels her cousin's arms wrap around her and she tries to push her away. Consolation is looked down upon in this new world (in their _Utopia_) and she doesn't want her cousin to get in trouble too. She feels the grip loosen from around her and hear her footsteps retreating, only to return after a moment, tilting her head up and placing the glasses on her face.

Karin looks up to meet her cousin's green eyes and sees the smile spread across her face in an attempt to make her smile too.

She smiles at the feeling of her cousin's arms around her and this is warmth that—she realizes—she loves and she doesn't regret it when she hugs her back and tells her, "Sakura, I love you."

She tenses for only a moment before squeezing tighter. She whispers the same words back to her cousin, laced with more fear and less confidence, but she says it all the same and that makes Karin feel a little better.

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Karin stays awake through the night and cries silently to herself wondering what Sakura will be like after her cure. She might lose that dear cousin of hers and she feels sick at the thought.

This is what she was warned about. (Love is a disease, love is a curse.) She cannot sleep and she is sad for no reason. (Maybe it was a mistake. Everything she said tonight _was_ a _mistake_).

But when she looks to her cousin, fast asleep next to her, she knows it was a mistake, but it was one that she could live with.

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It is ten years later, they are almost seventeen years of age, and neither of them even remembers that night.

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**Note:** Title and summary are from the Kelly Clarkson song, Already Gone. This story is inspired by the Delirium Trilogy by Lauren Oliver. I LOVE THE CONCEPT SO MUCH SO I HAD TO WRITE THIS. It was originally going to be a one-shot but I wanted to do more with it SO HERE IT IS. While, yeah, the main pairing is going to be SasuSaku, there's going to be a few side-pairings in the midst here. Anyways, yeah, I'm going to have fun with this~


End file.
